- Molly: Our youngest turned 10 this summer and has started to slow down. Curled up over on the couch, she's the best writing buddy a man could ask for, and still the only one of our young 'uns who's never talked back.

- Clint Hurdle and Terry Francona: A couple of mold-breaking managers who made October baseball relevant in these parts again.

- Joe Thomas: The Browns' life-loving All-Pro tackle is the anti-Richie Incognito. He just wants to play football and go fishin', and he almost always has something interesting to say.

- The international wrestling community: The sometimes fractured groups that run the sport had the wisdom and humility to acknowledge their mistakes, change the things that were holding them back and convince the International Olympic Committee to ensure that one of the world's purest competitions will continue to have a place in the Games.

- Jimmy Kimmel's man-on-the-street interviews: Hands-down the funniest reality programming on TV, and so outrageous at times it's tough to believe the responses aren't scripted.

- Kayla McBride, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Delton Williams, Damion Terry and James Conner: It's easy to find negative stories to fixate on these days, but these five are doing their high school programs and hometown proud on some of the biggest stages in their sports.

- Marc Blucas: Speaking of role models, the former Girard and Wake Forest star-turned-actor, who says he's never picked up a glass of booze or a cigarette, came home last spring to speak to local high school athletes with a powerful message that hard work pays big dividends. I went straight home after listening to him and tried to repeat the whole thing to my three teenagers.

- Readers and, in the age of Twitter, followers: You tolerate the occasional typo and suffer through the occasional rant. And yet, you continue to read and follow. Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you.